The E.A.R.: To There, and Back Again

I really want to say that I’m shocked, or appalled, that we’re dealing with yet another mass shooting once again. Sadly I’ve become numb to all of this. Death is so common these days that it just doesn’t rattle me the way it did. Death has become a way of life in this country.

The same narratives will play out as usual. Bleeding hearts conservatives will talk about how much different it would’ve been had there been a good guy with a gun just chilling in there. Politicians will vouch that teachers have guns to protect themselves, and their students. Many on the left will attempt to demonize guns, like they always have, and spark fear into those who aren’t familiar with guns in the first place.

Many sides of the spectrum will do their best to politicize this tragedy in order to push their own agenda at the cost of the well-being of the victims, their families, and those in the school during the shooting. When all the bickering is done, there will still be victims, and there will still be trauma.

A few things:

1. To the responsible gun owners: I know that it’s not the gun, but the person behind the gun. Many will attempt to demonize guns, paint a picture of guns that are not an accurate representation of what they are. They will throw around terms like “assault weapon”, and “semi-automatic” rifles in an attempt to scare people into calling for legislation to ban weapons. Some of y’all will end up in a pissing match with those who are severely misinformed. Some of these kids will attempt to take action, and some of y’all will insult them and tell them to stay out of adult issues. I implore all of you to meet them where they’re at, and console them. These kids are getting involved in adult matters because we allowed adult matters to kick the door down and literally lock and load. Many of these kids will now have PTSD, those who have an agenda against guns will feed them misinformation that they will latch onto because it is comforting for them to hear how scary guns are. I don’t want to see any gun owners on here insulting these kids. Your angst should be towards those lying to them in the first place.

2. To those who plan on demonizing guns: Please do your research before you start sharing anything about guns that maybe blatantly incorrect. I’ll admit I used to fall into this trap before I finally decided to hit Google, and chat it up with actual gun owners. It sucks that this kid managed to access guns (his father’s guns). Much of this is staring to go way beyond guns, but I won’t go there at the moment. Just be mindful of what you share, because a lot of what goes around on Facebook will be there squarely to cater to confirmation bias, and more importantly, fear of the unknown. Don’t drink the Kool Aid.

There will be much politicizing of this on many ends. At the end of the day, about ten people will still be dead, many will be mourning, many more will be traumatized. I think we owe it to the victims to make sure they are well taken care of.

Before we come up with a solution, let’s just take care of these kids. They just watched their classmates die. Like, fuck this talk of guns for just one moment. We have all the time in the world to bicker, but a critical window of time we can get these kids the psychological care they need before long term emotional damage is done. Let’s squash whatever disagreements we might have for just one moment, and console the victims.

Stay classy…

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.